Incorrect diagnosis hampering efforts to control TB: Tharoor

New Delhi: Incorrect and late diagnosis coupled with outdated treatment methods were hampering efforts to control the spread of tuberculosis, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor said.

"Incorrect diagnosis and lack of technological methods for treatment are the major drawbacks," Tharoor said at the first meeting of the National Forum for TB on Tuesday evening. The Forum was formed to completely eradicate tuberculosis from India before 2050.

Tharoor said, “At present 20.9 percent of patients are wrongly diagnosed and come to know about the disease at the final stage only, making it difficult to treat them. There needs to be more awareness among the younger sections of society about the disease.”

TB claims 800 lives each day in India and 2 million citizens in the country succumb to the disease every year.

Saumya Swaminathan, Director, National Institute for Research in TB, said, "The Indian patients still rely on the sputum smear microscopy test which is nearly 125-years old and has only a 50 percent success rate."

"The national forum for TB will use the public-private partnership method to implement its objectives," she added.